Bedford Blues are pleased to announce that Gareth Alred has been appointed as Operations Manager at the Goldington Road club.

Alred, who will replace Andy Irvine from Monday 7th July, has a wealth of Championship Rugby off-field experience having carried out similar roles in Commercial, Marketing and Media positions at both Doncaster Knights and Jersey.

The 25 year-old Welshman also has experience of top flight rugby clubs following an early stint at Newport Gwent Dragons during his university studies, but will arrive in Bedford after a short period with Channel Islands airline, Blue Islands.

Speaking about the appointment, Bedford Blues chairman Geoff Irvine said: “Following Andy ’s decision to step down at the end of last season it was important that we appointed the right person who could pick up the baton immediately and take this club forward with new ideas and fresh enthusiasm – Gareth is that man.

“We wanted a young, confident self-starter who can have an instant impact and hit the ground running. Gareth has a fantastic working knowledge of the Championship and the RFU as well as an extremely strong commercial and marketing background which will be a huge bonus to the club and businesses in the area.

“I spoke at the club AGM about the importance of local businesses being involved with the club and at a meeting in May we made some important headway in regards to the direction that the club will take after I step down in 2016, Gareth will form a large part of this.

“Gareth’s appointment will ensure that these discussions and work behind the scenes continues and I’m sure that we will quickly see Bedford Blues cementing its place as one of the premier sporting clubs in the area with some new exciting developments on the horizon.”

Alred, who first worked with Geoff Irvine and Mike Rayer on the RFU Championship XV fixture against the Maori All Blacks at Castle Park’s £3m sports and business facility, added: “I’m extremely grateful and humble to have been given this fantastic opportunity by Geoff and the board at Bedford Blues.

“Having been around the Championship for a number of years I have always been struck by the impressive history of the club as well as the high-esteem to which it is held by others around the league and the country.

“It is clear that Bedford Blues has great ambition and bags of potential so I’m extremely excited to be a part of the future of the club and I’m really looking forward to diving in head first and carrying on the excellent work already carried out by everyone at Goldington Road.”